Kathleen Kenyon was recently the subject of a biography written by Miriam C. Davis.  Dame Kathleen Kenyon: Digging up the Holy Land was reviewed in Haaretz by Magen Broshi, an archaeologist and the former curator of the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem.  His review begins: She never married...

Excavations in the earliest part of Jerusalem have long been hindered by the presence of modern buildings.  Many of the houses in the “City of Davidâ€� were allegedly built without government permits, and the municipality has threatened to destroy them.  This would allow for much more ex...

A friend recently wrote to ask if I knew how to get higher resolution digital images of the maps and reconstruction diagrams for the new ESV Study Bible. Upon investigating, I realized that he missed one crucial step (see below). But in the process, I was struck by the wealth of visual resources tha...

It’s a myth.  Sorry to ruin such a good story for you. The notion that the high priest would tie a rope around his ankle before entering the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) so that his body could be pulled out should he be struck down is not found in any ancient source, in...

2008 was a good year for archaeology.  You can read about the top ten archaeological discoveries in the world this year, but my goal here is simply to suggest what I perceive to be the most significant discoveries for understanding the Bible and its world.  Both the selection and the ranki...

I’m in the midst of compiling my “Top Five� list of archaeological discoveries of the year, and since Khirbet Qeiyafa stands a chance at making the top of the list, I thought it might be appropriate to share a recent “introduction� to the site that was included in the latest BiblePlaces Ne...

Hanukkah begins at sundown tonight.  The Washington Post reports on a city in Israel that has re-created the story. Dressed in a tunic and brandishing a sword, Zohar Baram leaps around the makeshift stage in the re-created Israeli village of Kfar Hashmonaim as dozens of children follow the acti...

Many interesting finds have been made from the pile of “trashâ€� that was removed from the Temple Mount and dumped in the Kidron Valley.  The Jerusalem Post reports the latest discovery. Two ancient coins, one used to pay the Temple tax and another minted by the Greek leader the Jews fought i...

There is something important to this story, but it’s not what you might think.  What is exciting is that ancient Magdala is being excavated.  Perhaps that will increase our knowledge of this ancient city that was home to Mary Magdalene.  Perhaps it will result in the site being open...

From the Caspari Center Media Review: A column in the Calcalist (December 3) surveyed the "Most popular sites in Israel visited by Christians." In first place, rather surprisingly, came the Western (Wailing) Wall: "Despite the fact that Christians have no religious connection to the W...